Tension reigns in main towns

There was “relative calm mixed with latent tension” in Ndjamena and other towns in Chad on Friday following unrest related to the contested re-election of President Idriss Deby, according to a resident of the Chadian capital.

Military patrols were less visible and regular business was slowly returning to normal, law professor Dionko Maounde told IRIN. The day’s main event was an appeal by the parties of Deby’s six opponents for the annulment of the 20 May presidential elections, Maounde said. He also confirmed reports that Deby’s main rival, Ngarledjy Yorongar, was beaten on Wednesday by security forces.

Chad’s electoral commission announced on Sunday that Deby won more than 67 percent of the vote, while Yorongar polled about 13 percent. The six opposition candidates maintain that the elections were fraudulent. All six were arrested twice this week: on Monday as they planned a protest rally, and on Wednesday ahead of the burial of Brahima Selgue, a student shot by security forces during Monday’s arrests. He was buried on Thursday.

“This is a situation which could last” as the opposition does not want a repeat of 1996, when Deby allegedly rigged Chad’s first democratic elections, Maounde said. The support the opposition has received from some members of the international community could also lengthen the crisis, he added.